


The Monster I Used To Be

by SourwolfSeblaine



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Language, Sharing a Bed, Stiles Stilinski is Eighteen Years Old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19943395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SourwolfSeblaine/pseuds/SourwolfSeblaine
Summary: “You cared about them.” Stiles says softly, “A monster doesn’t care about people. They only care about themselves. And I don’t blame you. Now that I know the whole story, I get why you did what you did. Sure, you made some stupid mistakes, but everyone does. I mean, I got you arrested once.”“Twice.” Derek corrects him.“Nope, the second time was all Scotty.” Stiles answers.





	The Monster I Used To Be

**Author's Note:**

> I spend longer thinking about a title than writing this... But I finally found something that doesn't 100% suck. Hope you like this, it's the first time in awhile that I wrote something without getting stuck for 400 words. (Seriously, when I come up with a big idea, I get 400 words, and when I think of something small and maybe boring, I'm suddenly able to write it.)
> 
> Enough rambling now...

Stiles whistles the song that has been on his mind all day, while opening the fridge to see if there’s any leftovers left. But before he can grab the _oh so_ delicious pancakes from Melissa, he hears a loud thump upstairs.

His room, to be specific.

He glances around the house, it’s the curtains are closed because it’s already dark outside, his dad has a late night shift. He reaches for the bat behind the kitchen door, he has at least five different bats hidden in the house. You know, just in case. He doesn’t know which room he’ll be in when someone tries to murder him.

Oh, he so hopes that it’s not a really dangerous creature, he has an important math test, and if he doesn’t get an A, Mrs. Holland, who has hated him ever since the first time she taught him – seriously, it wasn’t Stiles’ fault that she was standing behind him when he was talking to Scott, with his arms, and accidentally hit her in her face, anyway, she’ll definitely find a way to make his life more miserable.

He slowly walks up the stairs, he silently thanks the neighbour for repairing the cracking steps, or else he would’ve been way too loudly. Like the last time he tried to sneak back into the house when his dad was home.

Not that it mattered, so many supernatural creatures have super-hearing these days.

When he reaches his room, his door is still closed. He places his ear to the door, but it’s silent. No growling, or a creepy voice speaking like he always imagines in his nightmares. He takes a deep breath before opening the door and-

_“What the fuck?”_

Derek is sitting on the ground underneath his window. There are sticks and leaves in his dark hair, there are cuts all over his face and –oh, my god, his shirtless body.

“I didn’t know where else to go.” Derek answers. His voice sounds raw and tired.

Stiles, finally done staring, throws the bat on the ground and hurries to the werewolf sitting in his room. “What the hell happened?”

“There was a rogue Alpha in the woods.” Derek answers, wincing when he reaches up to remove a leaf from behind his ear.

“Jesus, why were you the one fighting him? And not, you know, the actual Alpha of Beacon Hills, who wouldn’t get extra hurt fighting an Alpha.” Stiles gets up and walks towards the bathroom to grab a towel and the first aid kit.

“Scott wasn’t picking up.” Derek says, and he lets his head fall against the wall behind him.

Stiles returns to the room with the stuff he needed in his arms. He carefully sits in front of the werewolf, “Does it… Does it hurt?”

Derek looks like he isn’t sure what to answer. “A little.”

“Well,” Stiles starts opening the first aid kit, “it’s about to hurt more.”

Before he can grab what he needs, Derek’s hand stop him. He has a tight, but gentle grip on his wrist.

“I don’t need you to do that. It’ll heal. I just… It just needs time.”

“Dude, the last time you had a wound from an Alpha, you took 24 hours. And the time that Scott had a wound from the Alpha pack when he was still a Beta, he almost died. Although that was because he wasn’t letting himself heal because we thought you were dead, but still! Almost dying is a big no-no in the Stilinski house.”

“Stiles.” Derek says, once again not easy to read. “I’m alright. I just… I just needed a safe space to stay, for a few hours. Then I’ll leave to study, or do whatever you teenagers do at this time.”

“Hey, I’m 18.”

“Still a teenager. Eigh _teen_. You hear it, ‘ _teen’_.”

It sounds more like Derek’s reminding himself instead of Stiles.

“Well, I’m allowed to vote now. And if we lived in Europe, I would be allowed to drink alcohol. I’m basically an adult now.”

Derek raises his eyebrow.

“Okay, I’m not really an _adult_ -adult, but with everything we’ve been through, I’m definitely not a child anymore. Wait, why are we talking about this, we should focus on- oh, you’re already healed, well, almost healed.”

Derek looks down at his chest and sees the big wound slowly healing, it’s mostly just dried blood.

Stiles remembers why he grabbed the towel, and reaches out to remove the blood from Derek’s chest, trying not to think about how close his hands are to those abs that he sees in his dreams sometimes.

It’s not his fault that Derek’s walking around shirtless for most of the time, ok. Like, even when it’s winter. Stupid werewolf bodies that don’t get cold.

“Why did you come here, and not to your own house?” Stiles asks him.

Derek stays silent. Which is not a big surprise, because he’s always like that when you ask him a question.

Stiles looks up to see Derek staring at him, “I mean, I’m just human, I can’t protect you like Isaac and Scott can.”

“Because you’re the only one I trust.” Derek says softly. So soft, Stiles is only able to hear it because he’s _so freaking close_ to Derek.

“You trust me?” Stiles asks surprised. The werewolf just nods.

Stiles isn’t sure why he’s surprised. He and Derek may have… a difficult relationship, but they’re still friends. He thinks. And he trusts Derek. They have saved each other multiple times. And Stiles knows that they will continue to save each other. It’s what they do, it’s their thing. Saving each other.

“Yeah, I do.” Derek answers.

“Just me?” Stiles continues to ask.

 _That_ is a thing he’s a surprised about. Scott is the Alpha of Beacon Hills, Isaac was Derek’s beta. And the others are pack.

He understands why he doesn’t trust Allison. Stiles has to be honest, he sometimes doesn’t either. Especially when a family member of the Argents comes to visit in Beacon Hills, he’s always reminded how she got manipulated, twice, by her family. And tried to kill Derek. Twice.

And seen the history between Derek and the Hales, he’s not sure if Derek will ever trust someone with the name ‘Argent’. Or another hunter.

“Don’t you see.” Derek says, “You’re the only one who actually cares. The only reason I’m still in this shitty town.”

“Huh?” Is the only thing Stiles can let out.

“The others… They avoid me whenever they see me. I know it’s because I made mistakes… But I’ve tried my best to make up for it. They just see me for the monster that I acted like, the monster I used to be.”

When Stiles woke up today, he definitely did not imagine Derek actually coming to his room that day and talk about his feelings. Or do anything else besides pushing him against a wall, which Stiles doesn’t mind at all.

“You’re not a monster, Derek.” He decides to take a risk and reach out, place his hand on Derek’s shoulder. Bare shoulder.

“No, I am. Or was, I don’t know. First, I just wanted revenge on Peter for killing Laura, the last family member that I still had that wasn’t burned to death or comatose. Then I heard about the Alpha pack coming to Beacon Hills, and I just got so scared, okay? I wasn’t born to be an Alpha, I never learned how to be an Alpha. I knew that they were going to kill me, I had no pack. So, I decided that I needed a pack. You want to know the reason why I chose Isaac, Erica and Boyd? I recognized myself in them. Scared, lonely. I wanted to give them a chance to actually live. But I ruined their lives. I got Erica and Boyd killed.”

“You cared about them.” Stiles says softly, “A monster doesn’t care about people. They only care about themselves. And I don’t blame you. Now that I know the whole story, I get why you did what you did. Sure, you made some stupid mistakes, but everyone does. I mean, I got you arrested once.”

“ _Twice_.” Derek corrects him.

“Nope, the second time was all Scotty.” Stiles answers.

Derek stays silent for a few seconds before breaking the silence, “Thank you.”

“For what? I’m just doing what every friend does. You’re not as bad as you think you are, Derek. You’re a good person. And it might take awhile for the others to see it, but they will one day. And I bet they will beg you for forgiveness for treating you like shit. And I’m definitely going to give them a talk about how they’re shitty packmates to you.”

Never had he expected to be hugged by Derek Hale.

But Derek Hale is hugging him. His arms are wrapped around Stiles’ waist, and his hair is tickling his ear when Derek buries his face in Stiles’ neck, inhaling the human’s scent that smells like woods and junk food, Stiles had been snacking earlier that night.

Stiles wraps his arms around the werewolf’s shoulders and tightens his grip. He’s not sure when the last time was that Derek got a hug. It might have been before Laura died. Or maybe before the fire.

He, finally, runs his hand through Derek’s hair, a dream come true. He expects Derek to pull back, but the wolf actually makes a satisfied sound.

“You-“

“Don’t mention it, or I swear I’ll rip your throat out.” Derek says, but there’s no anger in his voice. Stiles is actually pretty sure he can feel him smile against his skin.

“Alright, but only if we can move to the bed- _to cuddle_ , don’t look at me like that!”

Derek chuckles and lets Stiles help him up. Stiles reached up to wipe away the sticks and leaves in Derek’s hair, “You’re gonna get mud in my bed.”

“You’re the one inviting me to your bed… That didn’t sound right.”

“Ah, I’ll deal with it tomorrow. Now I want sleep. And cuddles. I heard Allison talk about how amazing werewolf cuddles are, and she dated two werewolves, so I _have_ to believe her.”

He lets himself fall on his bed, he was already wearing pyjamas. He watches Derek remove his shoes and jeans before the werewolf lays down carefully on his bed. As if he’s afraid of something.

“You’re not like her.” Stiles says, purposely not saying Kate’s name. “I’m not 16 years old, we’re not having sex, just cuddles, because friends can do that too, I cuddled with Scott many times. Sure, we were little, but still. And I know that you’re a good guy. You’re not a hunter, and neither am I. We’re just two people, caught in the supernatural-“

Derek shuts him up with a kiss. And, fuck, that’s all Stiles has ever wanted.

That Derek kissed him. Not being shut up, he hates it when people shut him up. But if this is how Derek will shut him up from now one, he wouldn’t mind. Maybe he’d even talk more than often.

The kiss is way too short in Stiles’ opinion. But when he opens his eyes, he can see that Derek looks exhausted.

“Thank you.” Derek says again. Then he fully lays down and closes his eyes, his eyes pulling Stiles towards him, so that he’s resting his head on the werewolf’s chest. It doesn’t take long for either of them to fall asleep.

Or fall in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this. I'm sorry if it has any mistakes, it's not edited (like all of my works.)


End file.
